■ CURRENCIES
Euro reaches new high
The euro rose to another new record against the US dollar yesterday, hitting US$1.4130 as last week's US Federal Reserve interest rate cut continued to weigh on the US currency. The 13-state currency rose to US$1.4130 before settling back slightly to US$1.4115 in early morning European trading. That compared with a previous peak of US$1.4119 on Friday and with the US$1.4083 it bought in New York late that day. In other trading yesterday, the British pound rose to US$2.0288 from US$2.0200. The US dollar also slid to ?115.01 from ?115.39.
■ BANKING
EU giant in the making
The public owners of the two biggest German public sector banks have begun talks that could lead to a new banking giant in Europe, press reports said yesterday. A merger of Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) and Bayern LB would create the second-biggest German bank and one of the biggest in Europe with assets of more than 900 billion euros (US$1.27 billion), the Financial Times reported. A possible three-way tie-up might also include WestLB, the state-owned bank based in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Financial Times and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.
■ WINE
Grape harvest drops
Australia's wine grape harvest next year could be cut by more than half by the worst drought in a century, industry groups said yesterday. The vintage is expected to be between 800,000 tonnes and 1.3 million tonnes, down from an average of approximately 1.9 million tonnes, a forecast by an industry taskforce said. "As the season progresses, we will be able to refine our forecasts," said Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director Mark McKenzie. "However, we know for certain that yields will be down dramatically in those regions relying heavily on irrigation water from the Murray Darling."
■ AUTOMOBILES
Ford factory goes online
Ford Motor Co said its newest joint-venture factory in China began operations yesterday and will produce small cars under the Ford and Mazda brands for the fast-growing Chinese market. The US$510 million factory in Nanjing will have an initial production capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year, Ford said. It said that would increase Ford's annual production capacity in China to 410,000 vehicles. The unusually flexible new factory can produce eight models on different chassis, the company said. Ford says its sales in China rose 29 percent in the first eight months of this year to 114,702 vehicles.
■ IPO
Bank raises US$7.6 billion
China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) said yesterday it had raised 57.12 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion) from its initial public offering in Shanghai, the largest in the country. The proceeds, slightly less than the figure of 58.05 billion yuan announced last week, will be used to supplement working capital, the Beijing-based bank said in an official statement to the Shanghai stock exchange. The country's second-largest bank by assets, which already has a listing in Hong Kong, offered nine billion shares at 6.45 yuan per share, a price at the top end of its proposed range. Its shares will start trading today.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)